Old parents left to fend for themselves, despite welfare law

IANS|

Updated: Aug 23, 2018, 12.32 PM IST

0Comments

Rani, who has a son and two daughters, has been living away from her children for the past 13 years.

With a wall-mounted personal shrine, pictures of deities hanging on walls, a rack containing utensils and a few boxes with biscuits and other eatables -- all crammed into one room in an old-age home here -- Sheela Rani, 75, sits on her bed, reading the scriptures, the only way for her to pass time.
"Life has almost come to end. What is left to do now? My day begins with prayers, ends with remembering god."

Rani, who has a son and two daughters, has been living away from her children for the past 13 years.

"Why do you ask the reason of my being here (in an old-age home away from family)? You know it well. Everyone knows. This is not a thing to question," she told IANS.

"Had my husband been alive, I would have still been at home with my grandchildren around me," she lamented, adding that her husband died 26 years ago and her equation with her son and his wife had not been the same thereafter.

To benefit the 75-year-old inmate of Geeta Bhawan Vridhashram here and others like her, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, makes it a legal obligation for children and heirs to provide maintenance to parents, by giving a monthly allowance. Maintenance includes provision for food, clothing, residence and medical attendance and treatment.

Why doesn't Rani file a case under this act?

"A mother doesn't fight... she never fights," she stressed.

"I don't have any complaints against my kids. I am not here in this position because they left me or chucked me out of the house. I came by myself. My son wants me to live with him but I don't want to put his marriage at risk because of my sake. That would be too selfish on my part," she said.
Pointing at her roommate, she said: "She has a similar story."